Kagome and I
by surfacer
Summary: Things settle down in the Feudal era.


Standard disclaimers apply / **Kagome and I / Part One / by Surfacer**

"Inuyasha!"

Ahhhh! If it wasn't her again! She can really frighten a hanyou, let me tell you. I turn over to a side. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn't.

"Inuyasha, I know you can hear me. How long are you going to sleep in that tree?"

At this point, I'm sure she has her fists on her hips. Her face is probably contorted into an unrecognizable state. It's so early in the morning. But, if I can just keep this up a little longer she will probably go away. Just a little longer. Her voice is like me scratching my claws on a rusted sword!

"It's dawn already! I've had to feed the chickens, clean the horse stable, and milk the cows. I can't upkeep this farm all by myself! When are you going to do some work around here?"

Clean the stable? I did that last night.

"Inuyasha, don't make me…"

No. She wouldn't… We are husband and wife. We are in love, and she told me she would never do that again–

"Osuwari."

Damn it! I'm too high up! Ahhhh!

(Crash)

Surprised that my neck didn't snap, I slowly get to my feet and dust myself off. Today is not starting out well. There was a time that I remember, it seems so long ago, that I was happy. I was a carefree hanyou; a renown and feared hanyou, just roaming the countryside and having a great time of it. How it ever came to be that I fell for her is beyond my recollection. It still is. I wonder about it often. And then it happened that we said our vows before that damn monk. That, I do remember. Why I said it though is beyond my understanding. I should ask her about it one day.

I growl at her. "Kagome…"

"Hmph, it serves you right."

"Trying to kill your husband so early in the morning, I can't forgive you."

"You can't sleep the day away. There is so much that needs to be done around here."

"The sun isn't up yet."

"W-Well, it's going to be!"

Hmm. That remark had caused her to hesitate a bit. Now that I think about it, it really is early. It usually isn't until the sun is a hand high that she starts throwing rocks at me. Also, what's with this "Osuwari?" She hadn't done that since the time there was that eclipse, when I had been – and this was uncontrollable to me because of my youkai nature – running around the house digging those ninety-nine holes and howling at the moon. But, I had apologized the morning after, and she said she would never utter that word again. Obviously, she is up to something.

"I cleaned the stable last night."

"You cleaned it! With a nose like yours, I refuse to believe you can't smell the god-awful stench of horse in there!"

"Why do we have horses anyway? I always carry you around when we travel."

It was her turn to growl now. It is almost as good as mine. And she is not even half animal, at least I don't think.

"Never mind that. Come with me."

She grabs me by the sleeve and leads me into the house. Of course, I comply. I am her husband. Marriage, as confusing and difficult as it is, is still a sacred bond that this hanyou would never break. The "I do" was said. And on my honor to one day become a daiyoukai, like my father, I would never betrayal such a promise once it has been made. But Kami-sama help me, how I find the strength to get up every day is a different story.

"In here."

"In there?"

"Yes. There's just a little something I need you to do before you clean the stable."

I falter. "Kagome, you told me to never set foot in there. You said that if I ever did, that you would kill me with one hundred "Osuwaris" and then force divorce papers on me." (I don't know what divorce papers are, but by her tone at the time it was definitely something I didn't want to find out. Plus, I didn't really care. What was in that room was hers and hers alone.)

"Well it's ok this one time. Come on."

We proceed. The light of the Shikon no Tama is nearly blinding. Yes, we had completed the thing. Well actually, Naraku completed it, and then we stole it from him. But that is another story too. Kagome's design of our home, which I had built by the way, had this very room set aside for the purpose of holding the jewel. She had at first planned to have a fancy stone alter put in middle, and the jewel to sit on top of it, and then to have it covered by magical beads hanging on shingles that would circle around the alter. Then all that was to be protected by a powerful spell her miko being would cast upon the room, for extra protection. It had all failed. As it turned out, she didn't know how to use her powers. And we couldn't find enough beads. In the end, we put it on a wood stump and I bended some metal bars around it. My sword was to be its ultimate protection. So far, it has been enough. Once in a while we'll get a wandering youkai coming around the house, but, I just whack it with Tessaiga and the problem goes away. I've become quite handy with the sword, too. All the fighting I had done with Naraku has really paid off. I am boasting a bit here, but I do believe I have become the strongest being on the face of this green earth. More on that later.

"What's with these bars?"

"I want you to bend them around the jewel too."

I give her a suspicious look. She knows as well as I that my sword is enough protection. This is obviously why she wanted me up. But why?

"Is something the matter?" I ask her innocently.

"Just do as I say. It is already enough of a risk for me to have one such as yourself this close to it."

That caught me off guard and I am hurting from its sting. It hurt even more than falling thirty feet, neck first, to the ground. If there is one thing in life that I uphold, it is the protection of the Shikon jewel. After all we had went through to get it, I've discovered that it just might be my calling in life to see to its safety. She had to have understood that. I know she does. I decide to go with the truth.

"Kagome, you said those vows too. I'm your husband. You don't really think I'd run away with it do you?"

She stares at me. I press on.

"Out with it now. Is the jewel in danger?"

Sighing, she turns away, looking a bit defeated. I had apparently netted her. It seemed that whenever I mention our wedding is when she'd drop a few of her defenses. Whatever lies pass that moat and those steel pikes though, well, it is still hard to reach. The truth should be forthcoming.

A moment later, she speaks in a quiet voice, "That woman is coming over today."

"Who? What woman?"

"You know. _That_ woman."

My brows furrow for just a bit. And then it occurs to me that I did know. It was _that_ woman. No wonder Kagome is like this. Although the woman's cause is supposedly as righteous as Kagome's, the two never got along well. Fire and ice, I tell you. In our world, there is a thick line between good and evil. My wife and I are on the good side, naturally. And by most accounts so is this woman. But Kagome has always had her suspicions. Once, she had confided in me that it was this woman alone whom she feared the most to take the jewel from us. And also, that she didn't feel particularly comfortable with me even talking to her. She had even sounded a bit jealous about it. Perhaps it was that she feared I would leave her for the woman, perhaps it was that the woman had the ability to cast a spell on me and force me to leave my wife, but Kagome never liked her.

Secretly, I didn't mind the woman at all. She had a warm smile and was great conversation. Always up-front, she was. Before my marriage, we spent a lot of time together just talking and laughing about whatever was on our minds: birds, bees, life, death, youkai, humans. I especially liked it when the topic came to fighting. Since I consider her to be nearly my equal in power, our talks of battles and strategies always matched with one another's, like I would suggest we attack a group of youkai this way, and she would agree that "this way" was indeed the best way. We would beat up monsters by the wagonloads. Those were great times. I would say that she had sort of become my best friend.

But that's the past. Everything is different now. Kagome doesn't like her, which means that I can't fully trust her by association. If her suspicions were true, if the woman did make a move on the Shikon no Tama, well, then I would be there to put her down. I just hope something like that doesn't happen. I don't believe it to ever will. In any case, and so it went, during the rare times she came around Kagome would always cling to me, like an obstinate little sister who wouldn't let her brother alone.

"Why is she coming over?"

"Herbs, this time. So she says."

"Well, we do have a lot of different kinds of herbs."

My wife harrumphs. "Our herbs don't work, remember?"

"That's not true."

"I recall giving Miroku some Purple Leaf when he came down with those rashes. By the next day, the red marks had spread all over his body. He was near to death."

I scratch my nose and chuckle, not wanting to embarrass her from her insufficient information. "Kagome, I believe he got those streaks from Sango. He went to town that same night, and you know fidelity isn't his strong point."

She brushes the subject aside. "That woman is not here for herbs. She's here for the Shikon no Tama."

"Do you really think so?"

"Oh yes. These bars. Please, Inuyasha."

"If it would make you happy then ok." I go on to bend them over the already secure jewel, the sharp light escaping from the crevices of the existing mangle of bars temporarily blurring my sight. It still calls out to me; my blood is part youkai after all. But, I had learned to suppress it. This jewel's evil power is no longer something I want, or need. I'm strong enough as it is.

"No, not like that."

"Hmm?"

"Put the block against the wall, over here. And wrap them like this."

I grunt from the effort of the new task. With each of the new safeguards, I wrap one end around old iron and with the other end, I press and tack them onto the corner wall of the room. It wasn't as easy as I thought. These were stronger and apparently made from harder metals than the old ones. But at last, I was done.

Wiping my brow with the back of my hand, I stand by Kagome to admire the new look.

"Remember that iron cart I tried to fix for you, back in your present time?"

"You mean the bicycle you turned into what my brother called an artwork?"

"Yeah, it looks like that."

"I agree. But this will work. She'll have to take down the house if she wants it now."

"Yeah, she does."

We stay silent for a while as she stares at the jewel with a longing look. And I am merely stalling because the silence is good. If I can go back to sleep, it would be better, for I know what is ahead of me.

"And now," she begins, "on to the chores."

Damn. Couldn't a monster attack right now, or something?

"You'll need to feed the chickens, clean the horse stable, and milk the cows."

Kami-sama, those are the things she listed earlier…

"Kagome…"

"Don't argue with me, Inuyasha. You are the man of the house. You need to do your fair share."

"It's practically spotless around here," I mumble.

She looks indignant now, and I know the routine speech is imminent. I brace for it.

"Inu-ya-sha. We are known throughout Japan as the keepers of the Shikon jewel. I myself," she thumps her chest before continuing, "am the miko who is its caretaker. How will it look if the worshippers come by and see that we live in a pigsty? Hmm? Or when the sick visit us for a healing?" At this point I want to butt in and say that her administering to the sick never worked. But I hold my tongue. She continues, "We are important people. There are standards to uphold, and where we live must reflect that. Don't you think? It's bad enough that we can't afford a castle. The least you could do is keep the place respectable looking."

I could never think of anything suitable to say against that kind of logic. My reply is usual.

"Yes, Kagome."

"Now please see to it while I prepare my arrows for our visitor."

"Yes, Kagome."

000

Whew. It's all done. The dull pain in my back tells me that at the least, I have defended my worth around here. I head back to my tree for a rest. Before going up, I notice Kagome had left a pitcher of lemonade and a glass by the trunk. I stare at it for a moment, a little amused.

Ignoring the glass, I take the pitcher and prepare for a mighty chug. I pause before it reaches my lips. There was a rustle in a nearby bush. My nose comes up to sniff the air at the same time as my hand reaches for Tessaiga. As the scent comes in, I recognize who it is. He's been coming by a lot lately.

"Shippo! I know that's you!"

He pokes his head out the side. "Ahaha! So you knew I was here?"

"Keh, of course I knew. Why are you lurking around like that? Get over here."

He jumps out of the bush with a balled fist, looking irritated.

"I'm not lurking, idiot! I'm a fox. We're just sly."

I could only shake my head. Shippo, the fox demon. Once a member of the fellowship that freed the sacred jewel from Naraku, he had been with us since the beginning. Now, in comparison to human years, he looks like a boy of about fourteen or fifteen. Once in a while he would come by and help out around the farm. That alone I can appreciate. He's a good kid, trustworthy and bright, if still a little annoying.

"So why are you here?"

"Gimme some of that lemonade and I'll tell ya."

Chuckling, I pour him some in the glass and we sit down by the tree. It is near noon now and the sun is high in the sky, the leaves above providing for a good shade. It is a good time to relax.

"So, why are you here?"

"I came to check up on Kagome."

"Kagome?"

He takes a long swig, and then wipes his mouth with a sleeve. Shippo does not live close by. From his hut deep in the forest, where he lives alone, it is a good three-hour hike to our farm. Why he chose to settle so far away is a mystery to me. Probably, it is something to do with his fox nature.

"She asked me for some special steel bars a few days ago, for some project she was doing. I'm making sure that they worked out ok."

"Yeah, they work fine."

"What are they for?"

Now I take a drink, thinking of what to tell him.

"We're using them to protect something important."

"Then you better let me have a look at the enclosure. I added some adamant rock to the mixture, to make sure they came out extra hard."

"Well… it's the Shikon jewel that we're protecting. Kagome thinks it's in danger, or some nonsense."

"Ohhhh. So it's back to the Shikon no Tama business."

"Yeah, you know how protective she is about it." I lean my sword against the tree; the hilt was hurting my side something fierce. With the air being so warm and calm, I stretch myself out on the ground and lay my head on a root. Now what I intend to do is something very important and very sacred. To other dog demons, it is probably considered mandatory, but for me, it is a luxury that I take whenever I can. It is a nap. I just hope I'm awake long enough for Shippo's sake.

"Anyways, Shippo, I would show it to you, but Kagome would skin me alive. She doesn't let anyone get near it. That includes me."

"I should hope not! As much trouble as it took us to get it, it's right that it's protected. Miroku, Sango, and everyone else, we're all trusting you to see that it's safe."

"Yeah."

He goes silent and I begin to drift away. But it is right at that instant, you know when you pass from consciousness to sleep, that vulnerable second when a dog needs to be left alone, that Shippo begins to speak again.

"Say, Inuyasha."

"Hmm?"

"Do you think that I can ever become as strong as you?"

"I don't know, Shippo. Do you need to be stronger?"

"Well, I've been thinking about all our battles, in the past, when we were looking for the shards. It was mostly you who did all the fighting." He sighs. He sounds bothered. "I was pretty useless and wasn't able to help us at all. I want to be stronger, like you. I want to fight youkai."

"Fighting youkai is dangerous. And it's not fun at all. I just do it because I have to."

"You're lying, Inuyasha. I know you enjoy fighting them."

I scratch my nose, and wonder just how perceptive the kid is. Can't get anything by him. "All right. So I enjoy it a little bit. But it's still dangerous."

He goes silent again.

"Anyway, Shippo, just forget about it. Plus, I don't think you're useless. You're good at a lot of things, like… mixing steel bars and stuff like that."

"Inuyasha."

I open one eyelid and see that he's looking right at me, and looking really mad. Poor thing. My eye moves to the lemonade. There's still some left. At this point I sit up and down the rest of the pitcher; the sourness causes me to clear my throat.

"First, to be stronger you'll need a weapon. Why don't you make yourself a sword, and see if Toutousai won't wave his hands over it and put some magic into it, like fireballs or something." I shoot him a look. "And then, come back to see me."

"Inuyasha, are you saying–"

"That's right."

"You're going to teach me how to fight?"

"Keh, of course! I'll teach you everything I know, Shippo."

"Ah Inuyasha–" He pauses. "Sensei! Thank you!"

I lie back down, a content smile coming to me. "Just be ready for some intense training. You could even die."

"Ahahaha! I will be ready, sensei!"

000

"Well if it isn't two dogs, sleeping under a tree."

I continue my quiet snore, even though I heard her coming. The OSUWARI won't hurt if I'm already on the ground. The quick movement nearby tells me that Shippo is up.

"Kagome! Nice to see you again."

"Hello, Shippo. Have you come to help us with the farm? There's so much that needs to be done. Inuyasha just refuses to do any work."

My snoring halts for just a split-second before continuing. She is merely luring me to get up. It won't work.

"You can always count on me Kagome. But today, I have to go to town. There are a lot of provisions that I need, and it's a long way back home. I, actually better head out now if I want to make it back before dark."

"That's too bad. A guest had just arrived at the front. It would be a shame if you missed her."

I hear him rushing off, the brat.

"I know. Inuyasha told me. Give my regards to Kikyo will you?"

"I will, good-bye, Shippo."

"Bye, take care! And sensei, I will be back!"

I get up with a grunt. It's pointless now. "All right, Shippo."

I give Kagome a good look over. Red hakama, white shirt. My gaze snags at the bow and arrows strapped on her back. Kikyo is really here.

I get up and offer her an arm. "Shall we go then?"

She clings onto it.

"Get your sword, and we'll go."


End file.
